Sunday, 27 November 2016

3 Ways to Build Your Authority Online

No matter what niche you’re in, or who your target customer is, the more of an authority you have, the more clients you will win.

People want to do business with people they like. But more importantly, people want to do business with people they feel have a certain level of expertise; they can trust them because they really understand what they are talking about.

So if you’re trying to find a financial planner, you may check to see:

What strategy they are using for their own family

How well they are doing with their own investments

How connected they are in the community

What type of advice they give, and where they give advice regularly

You may trust your own instincts after meeting with a person. But it definitely adds to credibility when you confirm your opinion by seeing them out in your community.

For some businesses, they do little or nothing to control what’s being said about them. But in today’s environment, its easier than ever to steer the information to build up a true picture of who you are and what you stand for.

1. Give out information freely.

I had a meeting recently with a advertising firm that has been a huge player for 20 years. They don’t have a website, and prefer to share little with their competition. They don’t want people to “steal” their ideas by making it available online for the world to see.

The problem with this mentality is they are losing a ton more business than they would ever lose by building up their online presence. Sure, they have connections here in the local market. But how may more national accounts could they pick up by building a dynamic web presence – and controlling it by talking about their client wins and successes?

2. Play with today’s tools.

Imagine if a company started business in the mid 1990’s. They never had a website designed. They never set up email accounts. Where would they be today? You may know a few companies like this. But it’s shrinking rapidly. Why? Because people have embraced technology, and they aren’t going to give it up.

So if you don’t know how to market your business with a website, do you think that same business owner is going to understand today’s technology? Do they know the importance of a blog? How about Facebook or Twitter?

Learning today’s tools gives you the knowledge and expertise for the next generation of tools. If you don’t keep up, I guarantee you’ll be left behind. The top experts in every field have learned how to find the newest tools, and use them to their advantage early in the game. They know by using and being at the top of the heap, they can easily hold on to their expertise throughout their industry.

3. Get others to talk about you.

If you’ve ever asked a friend for a recommendation, you know how powerful they can be. But if you just relied on your small circle of friends for referrals, you might find a tough road ahead.

A true expert builds up huge groups of “friends” by using social sites, and letting them talk about you and refer people to your profiles, blogs and sites. People don’t want to be sold to. Instead, they want to find people they resonate with, and feel comfortable finding their information through their own searches, and discovering how they need your products or services.

That’s why it’s so important to have multiple profiles on many different social sites. You never know where a new friend will find you.